Machine for corrugating sheet metal



(Ivo Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. B. E. CALDWELL 8v W. E. PETERSON.

A MACHINE FUR CORRUGATING SHEET MBTAL. No. 370,632. Patented Sept. 2,7.v1887.

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(N'oModel.) 2 sheets-sheen 2.. B. E. CALDWELL 8u W. E. PETERSON.

MACHINE POR GORRUGATING SHEET METAL. No. 370,682. Patented Sep-t. 27,1887.

UNITED STATES BENJAMIN E. CALDWELL PATENT OFFICE.

AND WILLIAM F. PETERSON, OF WHEELING,

WEST VIRGINIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,682, datedSeptember 27, 1887.

Application filed March 31, 1887. Serial No. 233203. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN F. CALD- WELL and WILLIAM F. PETERSON,citizens of the United States, residing at Wheeling, in the county'ofOhio and State of West Virginia, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Corrugating Sheet Metal, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to machines for corrugating sheet metal forroofing purposes. Heretofore thisoperation has generally been per;formed by passing the metal between rolls having the necessaryprojections upon their peripheries. Dies have also been used for thesame purpose. In another instance the sheet has been corrugated by meansof rolls which have an inward movement toward a central roll which hasvertical movement only, the inward movement being eected byright-andleft-hand screw-shafts having threads of varying pitch.Mandrels have also been used having unequal inward movement toward acentral mandrel, which has vertical movement only; but, as will readilybe understood,` such mechanism cannot satisfy the requirements, since ateach corrugation outside those adjacent to the one formed by the mandrelhaving Vertical movement only the strain upon the metal increasesrapidly. The objection to these methods, with the exception of thethird, is that a great strain is exerted upon the metal in order to drawit into the necessary form, and the metal is frequently' rupturedthereby, or so badly weakened as to impair its value. Moreover, it hasnever yet been possible to form the corrugations of uniform gage when alarge number of sheets are corrugated. In other words, when the rollsare set for one thickness or gage of metal,no other gage can be rolledwith corrugations of similar size, and it is impossible to roll anunlimited number of sheets with the usual rapidity `of manufacture andhave them all of exactly the same gage, and the consequence is that thecorrugations are not of uniform size. Again, corrugating-rolls will formonly corrugations of a given depth, and in order to vary thel'atter it.is necessary to change the rolls. Stamps or dies have been employed;but their action '5o is not only 'extremely slow, butcauses too muchstress to the fiber of the metal. The objection to the use of the rollshaving inward adjustment by means of right-and-left-hand screw-threadsis that the machine is exceedingly complicated and cumbersome, and,inasmuch as the rolls act only upon one portion of the metal at the sametime, the strain upon succeeding parts must be the same or nearly thesame as if the inward adjustment were not employed.

Our invention has for its object the avoidance of all these' objectionsand to provide mechanism of a simple character which may be easily andquickly adj usted to corrugate the metal to any depth and of any widthwithout danger of straining or fracturing the metal.

The invention consists in the several novel features of construction andcombination of parts, hereinafter set forth, and denitely pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an end elevation of a machineembodying our invention. ent means for applying the same principle.

In the said drawings, the reference-numeral 1 designates the frame ofthe machine, having suitable supports, within which are journaled shafts2, extending from end to end of the machine. rlwo of said shafts areplaced in front and two at the rear, the axes of each pair being indifferent vertical planes.

Within horizontal supports 3 on the machineframe are mounted aseries ofmandrels, 4, carried by a beam, 5, the ends of which are mounted onyokes 6, which straddle the shafts 2. Sliding on the vertical arms oftheseyokes are pieces 7, capable of adjustment by means of set-screws 8,which are tapped through the ends of thebeams 5. These pieces7 havebearing upon an eccentric, 23,011' the shaft 2. By adjusting the screws8 the beams 5 may be raised or lowered at each end. The construe` tionset forth is the same at each end of each of the beams 5.

Upon the nprights of the machine-frame are mounted horizontal bars 3,one being placed above and one below each of the beams 5. In each beam 5is cut a central longitudinal slot, 10, extending nearly from end toend, and in this slot are placed the head-blocks 11, which Fig. 2 is aview showing a differsupport the mandrels 4. These head-blocks are soconstructed as to slide freely in the slot 10, and from their'outerfaces project studs 12, which engage with independent blocks 13, capableof rotation on the studs. These blocks 13 lie within slots 14, formed indiagonally-arranged bars 15, the ends of the latter being rigidlyattached to the horizontal bars 3-by means of set-screws 16. It will nowbe seen that if vertical reciprocation is given to the lower beam 5 themandrels 4, carried by said beam, "will have a movement upward and tothe right and left, the block 1l having movement in the slot lO, andsimultaneously the block 13 being carried up in the diagonal slot 14.The mandrel carried by the block at the left-hand end of t-he lower beamin the figure will therefore occupy the position denoted by dotted linesin the drawings,

In corru gating sheet metal each corrugation will contract the width ofthe sheet a distance equal to the difference between the lengths of thecurves of the corrugations and the chord subtending the curves. Now, itis evident that if a series of eorrugations are simultaneously formedthe shrinkage or contraction in width will be equal to the sum of theseveral contractions produced by each corrugation. Therefore, while eachedge of the sheet will be drawn inward toward the center a distanceequal to one-half the entire contraction, each point of the sheetbetween the edge and the center will have an inward movement less thanthat of the edge, the difference being governed by the dilierence in thenumber of corrugations lying between the said intermediate point and thecenter. It will be apparent, therefore, that while each of the mandrelson the opposite sides of the central mandrel,4, should have aninwardmovement equal to the contraction in width produced by two corrugations,the next succeeding mandrels will have, necessarily, an inward movementequal to that of the preceding mandrel, plus the amount of contractionproduced by itself. In other words, proceeding from the central mandrel,4, toward the ends of the series, each should move inward, or toward thecenter, a distance equal to the contraction produced by itself, plusthat produced by all the mandrels between it and the central mandrel,plus onehalf the contraction produced by the other. In order, therefore,to compensate for these successive increments of contraction, we simplyarrange the diagonal bars 15 at increasing angles successively with thecentral bar, l5, which is vertical, thereby causing each headblock 1l tohave an increased horizontal movement in the slot 10 of the beam 5. Thediagonal arrangement of the bars 15 is the same upon each of the beams5, said bars being of course inclined toward the central mandrel.

By adjusting the screws 8 the beams 5 may be raised and lowered, and thedepth of the corrugations produced by the mandrels 4 correspondinglyvaried. In accordance with such variation the diagonal bars 15 must beadjusted in inclination, their angles with the vertical being increasedin proportion to the depth of such eorrugations, and viee versa.

By this invention the metal may be crimped or corrugated with greatrapidity and without the slightest danger of weakening or fracturing itsliber, as is the case with both rolls and dies.

Our invention is not intended to simply cover the application of theidea shown in our illustrations, but to embrace the principle of onevertical mandrel holding the metal on which it acts firmly in place,while the other mandrels are actuated by slides inclined at anglessufficient to produce horizontal movements in the mandrels equal to thecontractions of the sheet.

As an example of the scope of our invention we have shown in Fig. 2 amethod of applying the principle, as follows: In this construction thesupport 5, within which the mandrels are carried, is mounted on pivotalbearings 18, connected by a joint, 19, to a lever,- 20, having a movablefulerum, 2l, mounted on suitable supports, 22, on which it is adjustableto bring the fulcrum-point 23 nearer to or farther from the end of thesupport 5 or the pivotal point19.

The mandrels 4 are constructed and arranged in the manner already shown;but instead of the devices for controlling their horizontal movement,shown in Fig. l, each mandrel is connected to one end of a bar, 24, theother end thereof being pivotally connected to the lever 20, the severalpoints of connection approaching or receding from the pivotal point 19in proportion to the position of the mandrels relatively to the centralmandrel. In other words, the outer mandrel will be connected to a bar 24having its other end pivoted to the lever at the point 25, the secondmandrel will be moved by a bar 24 pivoted at 26, and so on. The lever2() has an extension, 20, to accommodate these pivotal attachments, andit will be seen that as the support 5 rises and falls the severalmandrels will receive the required movement from said bars 24. lThe endsof the levers 20 have slots 27 to permit the reciprocation of` themandrel-support 5, and by moving the fulcrum-bar 21 inward or outwardthe horizontal movement of the mandrels will be relatively increased ordecreased, whereby the necessary compensation may be made forcorrugations of different depths.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. Thecombination, with a rising and falling support, of a series of mandrelscarried thereby, those mandrels upon opposite sides of thc center havinga movement toward said center simultaneously with the vertical movement,and guides havinga constantly-increasing inclination by which the inwardmove ment of said mandrelsis effected, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with supports which recede from and approach eachother, of a se IOC ries of mandrels carried by each support, eachmandrel having horizontal movement on its support, and stationaryinclined guides upon each side of the center of the series, whereby saidmandrels are moved toward and from said center at the same time withtheir Vvertical movement, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with supports which recede from and approach eachother, of a series of mandrels carried by'each support and havinghorizontal movement on their supports,stationary inclined guidesengaging with blocks on said mandrels, and means for varying` theinclination of said guides, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with supports which recede from and approacheachother, of shafts having eccentrics, devices for raising and 10W-ering said supports relatively to their shafts,

a series of mandrels upon each support, each mandrel having a head-blockmoving in ahorizontalslot in the support, inclined guides mounted onstationary supports and having slots engaging with independent blocks onsaid mandrels, and means for ,varying the inclination of said supports,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the shafts 2, having eccentrics 2a, of thebeams or supports 5, adj ustably connected with said eccentrics,mandrels 4, having head-blocks 11,moving in slots l0 in said beams,inclined slotted guidebars 15, mounted on stationary supports or beams3, independent blocks 13 on the mandrels, moving in the slots of theguide-bars, and means for varying the inclination of the latter,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We afx our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

BENJAMIN E.` CALDWELL. WILLIAM E. PETERSON.

Vitn esses:

THos. MrNNs,

JOHAN SOMBE, JAMEs A. HENRY.

